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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27642065">Fudgy Brownies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelinaesque/pseuds/adelinaesque'>adelinaesque</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Baking, Bittersweet, During Canon, Gen, Mentioned Ukai Keishin, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Time Skip, Self-Reflection, Team as Family, Yachi Makes Brownies for Everyone, not sure if the third years graduating count as bittersweet but yeah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:15:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27642065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelinaesque/pseuds/adelinaesque</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After their defeat in the Nationals, it was time for Karasuno's men's volleyball club to face the realities awaiting them. With four members graduating by the end of the semester, Yachi found herself thinking about the past, the present, and the future. Also, she learned how to save seized chocolate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fudgy Brownies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yes, hi, it's me again. Have some warm, supportive Yachi making brownies for our Karasuno boys and Shimizu-senpai because they deserve all the love. Also, the recipe I followed for this can be found <a href="https://www.inspiredtaste.net/24412/cocoa-brownies-recipe/">here</a>. Also this is unbeta'd and unedited so oof—</p><p>Lastly, this fic is for my friend, Miles. Thank you so much for listening to my Haikyuu rambles and for supporting my Haikyuu journey uwu love lots, my liege.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yachi frowned at the bowl-on-saucepan situation she had going on her stove. She wasn’t sure when to stop mixing the butter, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Was it until it was melted? There was already a very liquid mixture in her bowl, though it was starting to clump a little together. And then what? What was she supposed to do after? Should she keep stirring until it smoothens? But it was quite sticky already. She squinted at the printed recipe she had taped against the wall cabinet. Oh. The gritty texture was just fine, apparently. Okay but—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hitoka, why do I smell something burning?” Her mother’s voice came from somewhere not too far from her. She startled, not expecting the other to still be awake this late at night. However, at her comment, she whipped her head back around to find the previously liquid chocolate looking as if it was the brownie batter itself. “What’s that supposed to be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Melted chocolate” she murmured, feeling both bashful and panicked as she hurriedly took two potholders and transferred the bowl to the kitchen counter. Quickly shutting off the stove, she stared at the mixture with a sense of dread. She didn’t notice that her mother already sidled up next to her until she registered the scent of her perfume. Seeing her look pensively at the mixture, Yachi asked in a hopeful voice, “Can it be salvaged?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure. I’ve never tried melting chocolate before” her mother admitted. Yachi deflated, feeling bad at the thought of throwing it away and starting a new batch that she could possibly screw up again. “Maybe check the internet? There might be tips on how to fix it or do it the right way so you don’t burn it again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh… that’s actually a good idea. Thanks, Mom!” Yachi grinned and whipped out her phone. As she keyed in the words into the search bar, her mother inspected the bowl again before catching sight of the recipe still hanging from the cabinet door. Skimming through it, she quickly realized what the chocolate was for.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you baking brownies on a school night?” Yachi looked up from her phone screen. “It’s not that I’m disapproving, though you could’ve picked a better time to do this. I just want to know why.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s for the volleyball club.” She flushed when her mother raised an eyebrow. “Really! It’s for the club! Or, well, it’s specifically for the graduating members.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Realization dawned on her mother’s face. She leaned back and crossed her arms. Then, she hummed. Yachi wasn’t sure how to interpret her mother’s reaction. Before she could further explain her decision, her mother spoke up, “That’s nice of you. Do you need help or do you think you can handle this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yachi glanced at the printed recipe and the ingredients were still lying around on the kitchen table. The melted chocolate from before still smelled burned but the quick internet search easily suggested ways to bring it back to life. She smiled up to her mother. “I think I can do it by myself. Thank you for the offer, though! You should sleep, Mom. You have a meeting early tomorrow morning.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I should be the one sending you to bed since you have classes tomorrow” her mother grumbled. Yachi giggled as her hair was mussed up. “Alright. Don’t stay up later than midnight. Good night, Hitoka.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Mom.” As her mother disappeared down the hallway, she focused back on the task at hand. Following the instructions on how to save seized chocolate, Yachi slowly fell back into the rhythm of baking. There was still anxiety simmering just right under her skin, the constant loop of “Am I doing this right?” echoing in her mind. Still, she powered through because really, celebrating the last few weeks of the current Karasuno men’s volleyball club was worth every single second she spent agonizing whether she got the measurements right or not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thought back to the early days when the gym felt like walking along a riverbank full of frogs that relentlessly jumped around. Once, she thought of Shimizu as the firefly that mesmerized her, enough to keep creeping closer until she forgot why she never walked near the water in the first place. The analogy felt a little absurd now because Shimizu wasn’t the only one who mesmerized her. The older girl might be the reason why she joined in the first place but it was the entire team itself that made her stay for the long run. Their passion made them seem so alive. It made </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> feel alive. Sharing their joy and pain was one of the things Yachi knew she would treasure most when she looked back on her high school life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked down at the mixture in her bowl. Finally, she managed to save the melted chocolate despite being a little absent-minded due to her musing. Her thoughts were on hold as she continued preparing the batter, adding eggs and flour. The manual labor helped in calming her nerves, temporarily banishing the worry of whether the brownie recipe she chose was too bittersweet or fudgy for the boys’ taste. After putting everything in a lined pan and popping it into the oven, Yachi found herself drifting back to the thought of being Karasuno’s manager. After this semester, she wouldn’t see Sawamura, Sugawara, Azumane, and Shimizu in the gym anymore. She had to start practicing spatial awareness and how to dodge volleyballs she couldn’t catch. The next time everyone gathered in the gym after the third years’ graduation, it wouldn’t be ‘Captain Sawamura’ scolding the youngsters for the ruckus they caused. Hand signals would still be used but the person who gently and patiently taught everyone what each of them meant wouldn’t be cheering from the official substitution zone. She probably didn’t have to keep a spare headband or hair tie in case their new ace needed one, unless they also kept their hair long. Perhaps, the most daunting of all was the fact that it would just be Yachi handling the managerial jobs from monitoring practices and tracking skill progress to making sure everyone had a towel and a water bottle in hand during breaks (and that there was enough supply for seconds; they didn’t practice that hard but Kageyama and Hinata had a penchant for repeatedly tossing and spiking even long after had gone home, in which Yachi often assisted them).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought that the club would be letting four people go mere weeks from then sent a pang to Yachi’s heart. Truly, everyone had come so far and in spite of never stepping unto the court for an actual game, Yachi wanted just a little more time with them. She was lucky to encounter such spirited and driven people within her lifetime.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wonder if the new recruits would be scared by their energy, too” Yachi wondered out loud as she waited for the brownies to bake, toothpick and timer on standby.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>When she entered the gym with a box in hand, it wasn’t an exaggeration when the boys descended on her like crows zeroing in on prey. Unlike before, she didn’t freeze up so badly that she forgot human speech. However, having people tower over her had Yachi’s grip tightening just a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s that, Yachi?” Sawamura asked, eyes already conveying that he was ready to devour whatever it was. After witnessing how much each of them ate during the Tokyo training camp and the meals Coach Ukai often treated them to after important matches, she hoped the sugar rush would be enough to satisfy the other’s black hole of a stomach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, those look like brownies, Yachi-san” Shimizu commented, silently coming up from behind her. Yachi successfully tamped down the lump crawling up her throat before taking a step back from the boys surrounding her. “Is there a special occasion?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, not really, I just— I just wanted to, uh, do something nice before we, er, before the semester ends, you know?” she stammered. There was a brief moment of silence and she knew everyone just felt the entire weight of the impending parting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The heavy atmosphere was immediately lifted when Kageyama commented, “I’m going to get some milk to go with it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kageyama, those are brownies, not cookies” Hinata commented. There was a yelp and Hinata guessed that he was on the receiving end of Kageyama’s kicks or barely dodged one. “I’m just saying! What, are you planning to dunk the brownies in—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how your brain works but do you realize that dipping brownies in milk would make them soggy and crumble down?” Yamaguchi commented while Tsukishima stood beside him, a look of thinly-veiled irritation directed towards the two other freshmen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Kageyama—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not even going to do that! This idiot just assumed I would—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you don’t behave right now, you’re not getting Yachi’s brownies” Sawamura effortlessly diffused the situation with his words. The word choice might have been amusing but it did the trick. Kageyama and Hinata untangled their limbs from each other and stood quietly side by side, albeit with some sharp elbow nudges into each other’s ribs. “Thank you. Kageyama, go get your milk. Everyone else who want to get their own drinks, do so right now. We’ll eat at the same time to make sure everyone gets a taste.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Yachi walked to the side, carefully placing the box on the floor, Shimizu walked up to her. “It’s nice of you to bring brownies for us,” she told her, “and it might not look like it but I’m really thankful. I’m sure the other third years feel the same way. I’m glad I’m leaving the team in your hands.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She felt her throat clogging up again as well as a prickly sensation at the back of her eyes. “Ah, Shimizu-senpai! Don’t make me cry. But thank you, your words are somewhat comforting. Honestly, I’m kind of scared of doing this all on my own.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not” Shimizu replied without hesitation. A corner of her lips quirked upwards. “You have a whole team behind you. They’ll pick you right back up if you mess up. And I hope you didn’t spend too much money on the brownies.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, don’t worry! I baked these myself” Yachi informed her. In the background, Tanaka and Nishinoya were talking about something loudly again. She gave it half a minute before the two started jumping and running around the place or doing something silly. Kinoshita and Narita served as audience, who would probably be commentators as well once the previous two began their shenanigans. Sugawara, ever the supporter, flitted from member to member, checking in on them and making sure they were in good shape. He would probably be in a corner engaged in a conversation with Sawamura after he was done with his rounds. Tsukishima was absorbed in his own bubble, headphones covering his ears. The rest were somewhere else. The scene wasn’t anything new but Yachi’s eyes slowly swept across the gym, taking in everything. A smile danced on her lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. I think Sawamura is starting to catch wind of what Tanaka and Nishinoya are about to do” Shimizu noted from beside her, thinking that the gesture was because as Yachi predicted, the two second years were starting to make a water bottle tower on Tanaka’s stomach while he laid on the floor. She simply chuckled, not bothering to correct the other. Truly, there was no other place she’d rather be. “I see the rest coming back here. Should we start distributing the brownies?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yachi nodded. She stood up, box in hand. And while she treasured the club, she reminded herself to bake something next time that wasn’t potentially as messy as fudgy brownies. She was pretty sure that there was still a tiny smudge left on the wall even after Coach Ukai made them clean the gym from top to bottom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://twitter.com/adelinaesque_">
    <span>Twitter</span>
  </a>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! You can come holler at me via <a href="https://twitter.com/adelinaesque_">Twitter</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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